Ron DeSantis, the leading Republican rival to Donald Trump, will announce his 2024 US presidential bid during a live Twitter event with platform owner Elon Musk
AFP

KEY POINTS

  • The U.S. Constitution does not allow individuals who are not natural-born citizens to become president and VP
  • Elon Musk was born in South Africa and only obtained U.S. citizenship in 2002
  • Technical glitches plagued Ron DeSantis' 2024 campaign launch with Twitter CEO Musk

The news of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis launching his 2024 presidential bid in a Twitter Spaces conversation with its CEO Elon Musk has raised speculations about whether the billionaire would be the governor's vice presidential running mate.

Mashable reported that Musk is legally barred from becoming the president or vice president, citing Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution, which says, "No Person except a natural born Citizen ... shall be eligible to the Office of President."

Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa. At the age of 17, he moved to Canada and obtained his Canadian citizenship through his mother, Maye Musk, a Canadian model.

In 2002, Musk was granted U.S. citizenship after moving to the country in 1995 to study and pursue his business career.

Meanwhile, DeSantis' presidential campaign launch with Musk was marred with technical glitches.

Politico reported that Twitter repeatedly crashed Wednesday night as thousands of listeners tried to join the Twitter Spaces to hear DeSantis announce his bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

David Sacks, a controversial venture capitalist and the moderator of DeSantis' presidential launch on Twitter Spaces, said the online event was "the biggest room that's probably ever been assembled online" after hitting at least 682,000 listeners at one point and mainly holding between 200,000 and 300,000 later on.

DeSantis' rivals have quickly jumped on his disastrous presidential launch.

Former President Donald Trump, who is waging his third presidential campaign and DeSantis' top rival for the Republican nomination, called the Florida governor's campaign launch a "disaster."

"Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!" Trump said on his Truth Social account.

In another post, Trump called DeSantis' campaign launch on Twitter "fatal."

President Joe Biden has also taken a swipe at DeSantis by tweeting a link directing to a donation page of his re-election campaign.

"This link works," Biden said on his Twitter account.

Biden also uploaded a video on Twitter showing DeSantis' stance on several issues and questioning his ability to wage a presidential campaign.

This was the first time Twitter's audio-only feature had been used for a presidential launch after it was publicly launched in May 2021.

DeSantis adds to the growing list of Republican hopefuls who want to challenge Biden in the 2024 presidential election. So far, 11 Republicans have declared candidacies for the party's presidential nomination, including Trump, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

According to the latest Fox News poll, conducted between May 19 to 22, Trump is still leading the GOP presidential primary race with 53%. DeSantis is a distant second at 20%.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks as he announces he is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination
Reuters